Gameplay – A Game’s DNA

We’ve gotten back into the swing of things after our trip from GDC, and it has been a busy but productive week. Just take a look at the image below, which, as I’m sure you know, is a work in progress and does not represent the final game:

So yeah! Check that out! Pretty cool, huh?

What do you mean, nothing’s changed? I guess I’ll have to explain why this image is so cool then. As you can see, there are three test batteries, as well as white block on the top which represents the slot the battery is supposed to go onto (it’ll be more clear when it has proper art). Put the battery onto the slot, and the door to the left gets power, so you can open it. There are also four different pads which allow you to transform between Lucas and his Wolf persona (two of them only do one-way transformations). Why is this all so cool? This room, right now, basically contains the primordial soup of our gameplay! It’s our mechanic in its most primitive form.

You see, while it seems pretty simple, a few minor changes make things a bit trickier. Only the Wolf is strong enough to push the battery around. And when active, the door will only respond to Lucas’ touch on the hand scanner (which you will see on the proper door art). So, you can only solve the puzzle by using both characters! The next step, of course, is to do what puzzles do best, and complicate matters further by adding obstacles. And oh boy do we have those. However, we wouldn’t want to give away everything. But it’s great that we’ve got this functionality, because from here, we can start doing more fun and complex things.

About Ben

Patching the holes, filling the gaps, and helping out when it's needed.